


chem partners

by r0wlets



Category: Tales of Series, Tales of Symphonia
Genre: AU, F/F, Suggestive Themes, talesfemslashweek2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-04 06:09:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20466293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/r0wlets/pseuds/r0wlets
Summary: Anna thought she had this class in the bag. Then she saw her grade and got stuck with some grad school nerds. Oneshot.





	chem partners

_chem partners_

The professor shut the door just as a young brunette stumbled in, spilling a few drops of her cold brew on her white blouse as she drank and ran at the same time. She ignored the glares of her professor and classmates as she walked up the steps to the highest seat, sliding into her usual spot. Rolling his eyes the professor took his place by the presenter, taking a sip of his own coffee. “Anna, do you ever think you’ll ever be on time in a more…punctual manner?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Anna scratched her head, grinning sheepishly. “You think you’ll ever give me a bit of that sweet extra credit if I do, Professor Roads?”

“Not a chance.”

He looked irritated as he took one long, disappointed look at her before turning back to the screen, pointing to the PowerPoint with a laser pointer. “I would like to start off this week by saying that if you have been keeping up with the syllabus, you’ll know that the midterm will be two Fridays from now. It’ll be worth 30% of your total class grade and will be cumulative based on your work both in here and your labs.

“We will have limited review time in the classroom for any questions that you may want to direct at me, but I _highly suggest _you attend the review sessions led by a few of our graduate students. Times for those should be in an email sent out and on the bulletin boards in the hallways of the science wing. I highly recommend going even if your current grades are on the high end. I will be posting updates in the front at the end of this class, so you know how much you have to study…or slack off.”

That last bit was directed at Anna as he glared at her direction. Anna grinned at him, taking a long, hearty gulp. She wasn’t too worried about the midterm. Her grades weren’t terribly bad, she was sure; whatever animosity appeared to be between her in the professor was merely friendly banter. She balanced out his snarky, old self and boring ways of teaching. His lectures were boring and at 10:30 AM – why did she attempt taking a class before noon? – so she often dozed off in the middle of them. In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time she was up for more than half of the class. Quality nap time…and she got through the quizzes in a breeze. Her lab work was pretty spiffy, too, so she was sure she had this in the bag.

Therefore, she felt all of her organs drop like bombshells as she reached over to take a study guide. None of this made any damn sense. It was like the entire guide was written in Tethe’allan. Anna spilled the rest of her coffee all over the floor as she suddenly stood up, raising her hand. “Yo, Rodyle, these aren’t the right study guides, are they?” she demanded. “Ha ha, good April Fool’s joke, am I right?”

“Miss Irving.” She could’ve sworn the old snark was smirking at her. “I assure you, any of the topics on the study guide will be fair game on the midterm.”

Anna’s heart plummeted. This was worse than the time she got shoplifting in high school and endured two weeks of juvie because she didn’t want to rat herself out to her parents. Suddenly, her confidence over her grade took a turn for the worst. She didn’t think her grades bombed that much…right? She got a B- on that one quiz at the beginning of the semester. After that, she didn’t bother to ever look at the quiz grades old man Rodyle threw at her. Probably a bad decision, in retrospect. Her lab grade was top of the notch, so she wasn’t worried about that, but if she had to retake this boring lecture again..

For the first time since probably the first day of class, Anna stood up in class for the entire time.

And then proceeded to ugly sob as Rodyle recorded her on his phone as she looked at her absolute garbage grades.

* * *

So, she wasn’t the most ideal student. That was okay because she could bounce back. Smashing a beer can against her forehead, Anna shook herself and stepped into the classroom where the study sessions were being held.

A nerdish, blue-haired guy was at the front, reading Shakespeare. He smiled at her and gestured to a piece of paper taped to the desk where he was sitting. “Hi, there. Just sign in and join in wherever there’s a seat. Any topic you’re specifically looking to study tonight?”

“All of them,” Anna said breathlessly, looking away.

The guy was not impressed; his smile had faded. “You look like you’re in a great deal of distress, miss. Are you sure you don’t want to sit down and catch your breath first?” Then he noticed her name, and his eyes perked up. “Irving…Hey, Mithos! We’re gonna win that bet against Rodyle after all! She actually showed up. Get your sister ‘cause I think she’s gonna be a big project…”

Anna glared at him. “How many frat boy parties have you been to, nerd?”

The glare was met by a cool glance. “None. And I aim to keep it that way.”

She walked past him, taking a seat in one of the back corners. She did it to herself, having to be forced to fraternize with nerds to save her ass. Grad students always acted like they were The Shit. Didn’t matter what reason, they always lorded over the undergraduates. Nerds. If she wasn’t in danger of failing hardcore, she’d be at that one party taking shots out of a funnel, singing along to Living la Vida Loca.

She wasn’t just a party animal. She was the whole pack of party wolves.

That beer must’ve been stronger than she realized as the hottest, preppiest girl with a black jumper and long, green hair came in with a bunch of books, looking extremely pissed off. Next to her was a fairly annoyed blond haired guy, who looked down at her with the typical grad look. But she didn’t care. There was a hot girl right in front of her. “I mean, she’s here, but she looks kinda…dense,” the blond muttered, waving a hand below his nose. “And she reeks of booze. I don’t think the entire grad team here can help her.”

“Hey!”

“Look, Mithos. If I can’t help the worst, how am I going to cut it as an actual teacher?” Dominating, hot. Smiling, the woman placed a handkerchief under Anna’s chin. “And you. Stop drooling for five seconds, all righty?”

“…yes, ma’am.”

* * *

It was really, really hard to concentrate when one had a hot girl sitting across from them.

It had been two study sessions, and although Anna had been sober more and more the last couple of sessions, nothing had been sinking in. Probably because while she was going through the study guide, she was daydreaming about being motorboated by Martel’s boobs the entire time. She could tell Martel was increasingly getting more and more pissed off at her with every passing minute, too. Probably because she wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed.

But this time she had no doodles on her scrap paper. She thought she was making a _little _progress.

Towards the end of the session, Martel stopped and took out a couple of granola bars from her purse. Handing one over to Anna, she nibbled at her own and sighed, taking a long sip of what was decidedly not boxed juice. “Look, Irving, I don’t know how to break it down to you gently,” she said, frowning. “It’s next to impossible to cram almost half a semester’s knowledge in a week and a half. At this point you’re better off retaking the class.”

“But I don’t wanna be stuck with old man Rodyle again!” Anna whined, wide-eyed.

“You don’t have to stick with Rodyle. I’ll get you a hookup with Professor Botta. You can barely understand him, but his PowerPoints are god-tier. Even a monkey can pass.”

“Thank you for your encouragement…”

Anna dropped her granola bar on the table and moaned, leaning back in despair. This was utterly useless. Why couldn’t she have been a gifted basketball player to get out of this? Or a pledged donor’s daughter? She didn’t even _need _chemistry in the real world. She was studying to be a friggin’ accountant, for crying out loud.

Martel scooted her chair closer to hers, so close that they could practically share the same seat. “Hey, do you wanna pass this midterm as bad as you wanna get in my pants?” she asked in a low tone.

Her hand was dangerously close to her thigh. Shit, she knew _all this time_. “Dude, please don’t ask me what’s going on down under my pants right now,” she wheezed, gulping. “Pretty fucking close, though, yeah.”

“Then get your ass out of the metaphorical boobs,” Martel growled, “and get your ass in gear. I’m not gonna fall for some punk undergrad who can’t even pass her midterm.”

She slapped her thigh and walked away, smirking. Anna let out a small yelp and stared, dumbfounded, at her study guide. She didn’t think she had ever felt more turned on and more motivated to study in her life. Taking a bite out of the granola bar, Anna picked up her pencil and twirled it around her fingers. It was going to be a long night…


End file.
